Tuesday, 1 August 2017

WitchTown by Cory Putman Oakes

When you're expecting something along the lines of"Ocean's 11" but instead get stuck with the unwatchable "Ocean's 13".
Oh, this is going to get a rant of epic proportions. -_-

First of all, have you seen *that* title? Witchtown? Wow, you would think that this story was filled to the brim with an amazing number of gifted people, right?Wrong. You know what's the right title for this book?Boringtown, filled with boring and stereotypical people. Even the poltergeist is boring as hell.
There's barely any magic at all in this book, and most of the one there is _ like a very important scene close to the end _, is basically, "Oh, I don't know what I'm doing here, I'm just improvising as I go, and look, IT WORKED."
Really? How the hell was this published? -_-

Then there's the deceiving summary wrote by someone who mustn't have read this book...
I was hoping for a FREAKING MYSTERY! I WAS HOPING FOR COMPANIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER! I was honestly hoping for a heist along the lines of "Ocean's 11".
Clearly I'm an idiot."But that plan derails when Macie and Aubra start to dig deeper into Witchtown’s history and uncover that there is more to the quirky haven (...)"spoiler (highlight) AUBRA, Macie's mother is a cartoonish villain, there's no bonding between those two. Macie is being used by her mother! As for the "mystery", surprise! The heaven is broke.
Also, WHAT QUIRKY HAVEN??
Because you have a lesbian couple? A goth girl?
They have the depth of air. Every single person that appears in this book is a fricking stupid stereotype.
Also, blond people everywhere... except for one person, but I'll get there. Eventually.
And what is worst, is that the beginning was actually promising: In some sort of future (yeah, that also isn't explained), witches have been outed. In some part of my brain I kept expecting that tomatoes had been involved in it, like Kim Harrison's "Rachel Morgan's series", lol, but I digress.

So the rest of the population started freaking out, and Havens started being created to house the witch population... the native American reality happening over again.
In this reality where witches exist, there's people who don't have any type of power. Not learned or inherent (natural). Those are called void, and check this out: these people who have been supposedly persecuted in "our" world, people who needed shelter end up branding with an hot iron those who are Void, so that other havens will not accept them. BUT, there's a character in Witchtown, about whom there's rumours of "voidness" o_O AND NO ONE FREAKING CARES!!
If Havens are supposed to be fortresses to the rest of the world, why not ask the people who want to join their "club" to put on some sort of magic display as proof of their abilities?
Wouldn't that be less time consuming and idk... CRUEL??
Also as fortresses, these places leave a lot to desire when it comes to security: people are constantly entering and leaving the things!! See? There's no consistency in anything; just plot-freaking-holes everywhere!

Another aspect that you don't get to anticipate with this summary is that there's "luvey duvey" involved in this story. Two guys, although not a love triangle...
One of them is presented as this black dangerous dude who Macy initially thought was as a drug dealer. Really author?? With the blatant racism that exists in America, who think that is a line to casually drop in the middle of a teen/new adult story?
And I say "new adult" (highlights) because in flashbacks it is left to your imagination if Macie had sex with Rafe, the black dude who ends up not being a criminal, but a really great guy.
The other dude, of whom I can't even remember his name anymore (I don't care!) is this golden witch boy who is just great with kids, and about whom Macie starts salivating about, just days after something heartbreaking happened between her and the other guy Rafe.
Oh, my waning patience... and my shrivelled heart. -_-

So let me just recapitulate:
The writing style is basic and choppy; the story line (what story line?) and characters boring as hell.
Then there's the author's comparisons in the summary...uh, I haven't read anything by Danielle Paige (so, I'll leave it as that), but I'm PRETTY sure this has nothing to do with Alice Hoffman's stories.
So, yeah, this is a freaking mess that I definitely don't recommend.
The two stars? Because I ended up reading the whole thing due to the amount of incredulity that I was feeling at the time.